Slow Cooker Madras Beef Curry with Vegetables

This Madras Curry is a warming dish that is perfect for a cool evening. This slow cooker beef curry recipe brings deep, comforting flavors and tender meat with little effort. 

How To Make Indian Curry

Curry is such a broad label. Ingredients and nuances don’t just vary between regions, but even between households. We’ve heard it described as similar to pasta sauce in Italy or BBQ sauce in the States.

All curries are not alike, and they don’t all have the same spice level.

So, if you thought you wouldn’t be a fan of curry because they’re too spicy, think again!

(In fact, my “mild-salsa-is-too-spicy” father was quite impressed when we had him try his first curry.)

If you love heat, you can definitely dial the heat up to your heart’s content.

But, if you’re not a heat lover, you can just as easily dial the heat down to a quite comfortable level of flavorful, yet not even glowing.

Different Types of Indian Curry

Indian curries are characterized by the use of a blend of dry spices. (Whereas Thai curries use a spice and chili paste.)

These spices can include anise, bay, cardamom, cinnamon, chilies, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel, garlic, ginger, mustard seed, nutmeg and turmeric, among others.

In Northern India, you will find it common to serve curries with flatbread, like naan. These are the types of curries often found in the US. They contain a variety of meats and vegetables with dairy (cream, yogurt, or butter) to give them a creamy texture.

Southern Indian curries lean a bit on the spicier side, with more emphasis on chilies. Lentils are often used, and curries are commonly served with rice.

Eastern Indian curries are more savory than spicy and rely heavily on onions for flavor and texture.

Western Indian curries tend towards the spicy and sweet category, favoring a pinch of sugar to curb the heat. These are often served alongside dal, a lentil soup.

Madras Curry

While our Potato Curry with Paneer is more of a North Indian style curry, a Madras curry hails from the southern region, where curries do tend to have a bit more heat.

For our Madras Beef Curry, we start by toasting the spices to bring out the flavor and fragrance.

Could you just throw them into the slow cooker if you’re short on time?

We’re already skipping a step by using ground spices rather than toasting whole spices here, so sure, you could just skip the toasting all together. But, it does add a depth of flavor to the dish, so if you have the time, we highly recommend it.

You’re going to be getting out the skillet to sear your meat and saute your onions anyway, so you may as well!

What Beef To Use In The Slow Cooker

Chuck roast is the classic roast you would choose for pot roast. It becomes super moist and tender when braised low and slow.

Even though we’re cutting our roast into bite-sized chunks for this curry, we want it to be super tender after the time in the slow cooker, and a chuck roast is the perfect (and quite economical) choice here.

To add to the flavor of our curry, we sear the cubes of beef before putting them into the slow cooker. This seals the juices into each piece and adds another layer of caramelized flavor to the dish.

An Easy Slow Cooker Beef Curry

After just a few prep work steps in your skillet, the crock pot takes over. Then all the flavors of this beef curry simmer and stew together on their own.

And, while it cooks the aroma of all those warming spices makes the house smell WONDERFUL!

Just before serving, we stir some yogurt and a little lemon juice into the curry. This adds a pop of bright flavor to the deep spices and brings a creaminess to the dish that contrasts nicely with the spice of the chili powder.

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We’ve updated our pictures since we first shared this recipe on Curious Cuisiniere, but we’ve left some originals here, in case you’ve found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.